New Life Lodge Death Still Bringing Up Insurance Concerns

New Life Lodge Death Still Bringing Up Insurance Concerns

On the 1st of September 2010, the day Lindsey Poteet
was meant to be finishing up her month long drug rehabilitation program at New
Life Lodge, she lay brain dead and on life support in a hospital bed.

Her mother later had to make the decision to remove
that life support as the doctors insisted that Lindsey would never recover or
even be able to breathe unaided.

However that's not the only patient death attributed to a stay at New Life
Lodge.There were other deaths that same
year, and in the years that followed.

The Lindsey Poteet Story

Lindsey was admitted into New Life Lodge to help with her drug addiction.And her progress was positive during that
time.A few weeks after being admitted,
she was due to leave the facility and be reunited with her young daughter.

However, towards the end of her stay, she developed
pneumonia.The exact reasons why are
unknown.It was said that when speaking
with family members over the phone they reported that her breathing was labored
and that she was also coughing.

This situation came to a head on the day she was due
to be released.It is reported that she
was so weak she could barely walk.However, instead of being taken by ambulance, she was instead taken in a
van driven by a medically unqualified staff member.And instead of being taken to the nearest
hospital, she was in the process of being driven to a hospital around 30 miles
away.

During this journey, the driver pulled over and called
911 in a panic as Lindsey wasn't breathing.

She was admitted into hospital but was found to be
brain dead and was put on life support.Eventually, due to the lack of any chance of recovery, Lindsey's mother
had to make the decision to remove her care, and she died.

During the autopsy, it was discovered that although
her pneumonia was causing a lot of difficulty with breathing, it was the mix of
drugs in her system that actually caused
the issues.A mix of anti-depressant and
therapeutic drugs were given as the cause for her ending up in hospital, and
later dying.

A History of Failure

New Life Lodge had a history of overcrowding, staff
with conflicting priorities, and even under qualified staff.The same year as Lindsey Poteet died, there
are other reported deaths at the establishment too.It's been difficult to determine exactly how
many there were, but estimations come to a total of three for the year.

It was Amerigroup that was paying for Lindsey Poteet's
treatment, and that business conducted an in depth review of the lodge after
her death.

Amerigroup is part of the TennCare insurance company,
and a spokeswoman for the company said that Amerigroup would be no longer
sending patients to New Life.

As New Life Lodge continues in business, alternative
insurers were found to refer patients to the organization, but the name of the
organization has been tainted, and it is under closer inspection by the local
government.